A Fragile Emerald
by AaronCottrell97
Summary: Thomas wakes up one night when he hears Emily having a nightmare, the same type of nightmare she had in her darker years. This one though is the most horrific one of all as Emily is the cause of and witness to, what appears to be, Thomas' brutal death! When she wakes up, Thomas is alive and well and does everything he can to comfort his fragile emerald.


One clear night on the Island of Sodor, the engines were cooling their fireboxes and resting their wheels at Tidmouth Sheds. For once, all seven engines were here. Henry's Flying Kipper run had already been completed that evening and there were no late-night passengers for any express. Only Toby was working on Percy's mail run at Arlesdale End and along Thomas' Branch Line.

For a few hours, Tidmouth Sheds was quiet and peaceful…but eventually, as the Knapford Station clock struck 2:00 a.m., Thomas could hear something…something troubling. He looked and saw the sounds were coming from Emily. She was groaning uncomfortably in her sleep. At first Thomas thought she must have been ill and grew a little concerned. He had known Henry to be rather prone to illness but never Emily. But when Emily started speaking a little in her sleep, Thomas realized she wasn't ill at all…it was much worse than that. When Emily murmured, "Gordon…James…stop…!" it became clear to Thomas' knowledge that she was having nightmares…the same terrible ones she had back when she was still suffering and she was reliving one where Thomas was involved…

 _Emily was huffing stubbornly down the line just after Gordon and James had teased her and bumped her around the yard. Engines tried to greet her, but she shouted at them to be quiet and blew steam at them. This made the engines very cross. They had been dealing with this behaviour for quite a long time and they were all very frustrated. As Emily passed the yards, Henry, Donald and Douglas tried saying hello._

 _"SHUT UP!" yelled Emily. "And back to your foolishness!" The three engines were shocked…and very cross._

 _"We were just trying saying hello…" said Donald._

 _"But that old witch calls us out…when we did NOTHING!" hissed Douglas._

 _"Despicable!" snapped Henry. "We cannot allow it! Wait…I have an idea." He whispered something to the twins._

 _"Duck was innocent when Diesel told all those lies," whispered Henry. "But this is different…she did it to us…we'll do it to her, and see how she likes it!" The twins agreed. When Emily came back, still in a bad mood, she saw Henry and the twins again. This time, they were the ones to look unapproachable._

 _"No time for talk, scrap-heads!" she wheeshed._

 _"Well, you're some diesel!" snapped Henry. Emily stopped. "What?" she asked accusingly._

 _Henry became very hostile and very bad-tempered. "We try saying hello and you shut us up! We've been dealing with your bossy behaviour for too long! You came here very nice, but then you decide to lie to us and gain pleasure in provoking us…You are a terrible engine, and a disgrace to Sodor. We all HATE YOU! NOW GET OUT OF HERE!"_

 _Emily was both very hurt and very angered by this. She wanted to release her tears but instead she took off very fast._

 _"Those fools!" she hissed. "They've got problems and it's not my fault!" Emily was so busy complaining, she didn't notice she went past a danger signal…and crossed onto the line Thomas was travelling on! Thomas was taking Annie and Clarabel along his branch line and was coming to a junction where the tracks crossed over each other. He didn't notice until too late that Emily was coming up head on, still grumbling._

 _"Emily! Watch out!" whistled Thomas. Emily looked and she wasn't grumpy anymore. She was frightened. But she had no time to stop. She bumped right into Thomas and started shunting him backwards. Thomas couldn't help stop because the sudden bump made the water in his boiler jump too far forward and he couldn't shut off steam! Then up ahead was another junction, and coming round there was Spencer! Going fast as lightning, Spencer couldn't stop in time. He crashed into Annie and Clarabel, and Thomas was sent off the tracks and rolling down the hill! Annie and Clarabel fell on their side while Spencer shot past._

 _Emily watched in horror as Thomas rolled down the hill and through the trees then suddenly, she heard a loud crash and saw a few trees fall down. Then…she saw billowing smoke! Frantically, she sped away to find a way down to the trees. Annie and Clarabel's doors opened from the top and several passengers, badly bruised and black-eyed came stumbling out._

 _"What was that Stirling thinking?!" exclaimed a few uninjured passengers. "We will tell the Fat Controller!" Meanwhile, Emily had found a way down the line towards the trees. She kept screaming Thomas' name, hoping he was alright._

 _"Thomas?! THOMAS! I'm sorry!" she cried as she approached the smoking trees. She could see a flash of blue and hurried over. But as she slowed down and looked, she gasped…_

 _"Thomas…you're…you're…" There, close to the rails, smashed under a tree, with his short stumpy boiler completely imploded, his wheels smashed and bent out of place, his face a horrifying pale colour, and his eyes shut…was Thomas. Astoundingly, despite the extensive damage, he was only knocked out, but judging by the look of the damage, Emily thought..._

 _"Oh…oh no!" she sobbed as tears of distraught and destruction drenched her face. "Tommy's dead! I wasn't careful enough to see him…It's all my fault!"_

 _She sniffled very hard and slowly came forward…and she kissed his unconscious cheek. It felt frightfully cold and she thought he'd never feel it. But Thomas' face was only cold from the breeze of him plummeting down the hillside. She backed away and whispered…_

 _"I'm so sorry…for everything…please forgive me…I loved you so much...oh, goodbye, Thomas…" Then, she shrieked in pure agony and sorrow over her actions. But even as this happened, Thomas' eye opened slightly and he started to groan, "Emily? Emily..." Emily could feel herself spinning around in the air, through the dark and then…_

Suddenly, Emily woke up and saw Thomas buffered up, facing her and repeating her name. She looked around and saw she was still at Tidmouth Sheds and her Thomas was still alright.

"T-Thomas?" Emily gasped. "You're…you're alive?"

"Yes. I'm alive. What's wrong, Emily? And why did you ask if I'm alive?" Thomas whispered.

"I…I…" Emily whispered, her voice shaking. "I had terrible nightmares...the same ones I had back when I was still in a painful world! I dreamt that I was being mean to some of the engines…they talked back at me, then I became angry…I passed a danger signal and bumped into you…then Spencer sent you rolling down the hill…and you got crushed by trees…to…to your…"

Thomas could see that Emily was too frightened to finish. He knew what she would have said.

"Why am I dreaming this again?" she whimpered. "I've been so happy for so many years thanks to you, Thomas, but now…what's happening, Thomas?! Why am I so weak?! I'm just a useless, weak pile of tin! I'm still having memories of my worst days more than a decade after you saved me!"

Thomas obviously couldn't answer why she was having those nightmares again, but he was so troubled by his angel feeling this scared, he began to cry. "Emily," he sniffled. "You're NOT weak! Those days are gone for good! I'd NEVER be in an accident that bad. The Fat Controller makes sure we are as safe as possible. Accidents do happen, but they're never fatal. Please calm down, Emily. I'm alright and I always will be."

Emily looked sadly at Thomas…then it started again. She was weeping; she was sobbing as though her world had just crumbled, and there was nothing she could have done. She was crying as though all her loved ones had perished, and she was crying because of fear. She was afraid of what would happen to her friends...and most importantly, Thomas.

Thomas feared that Emily would completely break; thus, he pressed his nose gently onto her little nose. He felt immensely sorry for her. He felt sorry that Emily had to go through all this anguish. This much pain. He could never be able to forgive Gordon and James for inflicting his beloved angel with so much pain and torture. It was them who made her heart so fragile.

"It's OK, Emily. You're safe. I'm here, I'll always be here for you, my love."

Emily pulled her nose away from his, a few moments later. Her eyes were red and were glossed with fresh tears; before either of them knew what was going on, Emily kissed him. It was a desperate and passionate, but also a slow and comfort-seeking kiss...Thomas reciprocated, drowning all of his love into the lips of the engine that he loved more than anything else in the world.

If all she needed was comfort and love, Thomas was more than glad and willing to give it to her.

"We don't have any privacy," Thomas whispered. "But the others are deeply asleep…I can see how much you need me. I'll comfort you as much as you need me to, Emily…I love you so much…"

So Thomas began to calm his angel down. He sweetly kissed her lips, gently sliding his tongue between them, into her mouth and gently touching her tongue. Emily was still a little scared and teary, but feeling her star's lips and tongue against her own made her feel much safer as she kissed him back. After a few minutes, Thomas let go of her lips and spent several minutes, kissing, licking and sucking on her cheeks ever-so gently so she could feel his softness and warmth, almost as if he was wrapping her in a blanket, just like a mother would do for her children.

Emily felt much better as Thomas pampered and worshiped her cheeks with such soft, gentle love and kindness. She moaned softly and passionately as Thomas kept whispering between kisses, "I'm here…I love you, Emily…you're safe with me…I'll always make you happy..."

Although Emily really wanted him to keep loving her throughout the night, she wanted to treat him with love to show how much she needed him to stay by her.

"Thomas…Thomas…" Emily whispered. "P-please, let me kiss you…no, even more loving…let me lick your face…I love you like crazy…please let me…I really, really love you…"

"Of course, Emily. As much as you need to," whispered Thomas. "Go ahead…kiss me…pamper me, my beautiful emerald angel."

Emily slowly opened her mouth and began to reach her pink tongue out toward Thomas' face. Thomas shuddered with great excitement…then as he felt Emily's warm, wet tongue gently lick along his cheek, his eyes popped open and he nearly groaned out loud in passion but resisted so as not to wake the others. Emily gently licked his cheeks for several minutes, relishing and cherishing her precious engine. She drew back her tongue and spent a little more time kissing Thomas' cheeks and nose as a thank you for being so caring and considerate of her.

"Oh…Emily…" Thomas whispered. "For eternity, you'll always be my angel…I promise…you'll never relive those days…ever again."

"And you'll always be my star, Thomas…and thank you…forever…I'll always feel safe and mostly happy, thanks to you…kiss me, Tommy…please? Kiss me. I love you…"

Thomas kept kissing her softly and sweetly. And as he kissed her, she felt happier and more relaxed. She could feel her nightmare disappearing from her memory. She felt full and perfect again. She wasn't weak at all. She was a caring, kind and very strong engine. With Thomas, her life would always be wonderful, no matter what would happen.

Thomas paused to check how Emily was, and saw she was fast asleep. This time, she was breathing softly and steadily with her lovely smile on her face.

"Sweet dreams, Emily. I love you," Thomas whispered as he kissed her little nose.

"Sweet dreams, Thomas. I love you too," Emily whispered in her sleep. Thomas pressed his nose onto Emily's and fell asleep with a smile too. From that moment on, until the sunrise, Emily slept in peace, happiness and safety. She didn't have any more nightmares and basked happily in Thomas' loving hold.

* * *

Well, this is quite a change. My most graphic story so far. Originally much darker with Thomas' actual death, but it was then decided to tone it down just a tad. Now while it seems Thomas survived, it is only due to the fact that in reality Thomas is trying to wake Emily up, so since the real Thomas is interfering with the dream to try bring Emily back to reality, his actions are affecting the nightmare, hence how he survived and how he was able to wake Emily up. But since she is reliving this nightmare once again, every other time this dream occurred, Thomas died for real. Does that make any sense?

Now, unless I come up with anymore ideas this should be the last one until "Thomas and Emily's Relationship" is finished...though I've said that probably three times already so I will be prepared to put my foot in my mouth. So please leave a review and tell me what you all thought of this ladies and gentlemen, and I will see you later.


End file.
